Who is the deaf activist, Chella Man?

Imagine being deaf and transgender, with the confidence to be open about both.

This describes Chella Man, who recently became the first deaf trans model to sign with IMG, a model agency for many big names in the industry. He’s now in esteemed company with Gisele Bundchen, Amber Valletta, and Hailey Baldwin.

Deaf AF

Now 19 years old, Man remembers being four years old, staring at the ceiling of his bedroom and hearing a ringing in his ears. He went into his parents’ room to tell his mom and recalls her bending over to talk to him, because he was so small.

Turns out, Man had a progressive hearing loss. As he grew up, the number of times he said “What?” in a conversation increased and became a way of monitoring how bad his hearing was getting. “I had to grow up from a very young age,” he says, “knowing that eventually, I was going to lose all my hearing.”

When he was in third grade, his parents decided it would be a good idea to learn sign language. A tutor came to the house for lessons, and his family tried to learn ASL as well, which Man calls amazing. He likes being able to communicate with them via sign if he needs to, especially in loud situations.

Receiving cochlear implants

Ultimately, Man reached a point where he had to get cochlear implants if he wanted to hear. Going bilateral has worked out well for him; he grew up mainstreamed. The first thing he does when he wakes up is put his CIs on so he can hear the world.

In a YouTube video, Man talks about the word “disabled,” as someone asked him once how he felt about it. He feels it has a lot of negative connotations yet he doesn’t see it as such a negative thing. This is because everything he’s learned about being deaf has made him the person he is today. In fact, being deaf helps filter out certain people, like those who don’t have patience or empathy to be respectful to someone with a disability.

“…being deaf helps filter out certain people, like those who don’t have patience or empathy to be respectful to someone with a disability.”

“I know how hard having a disability can be,” Man says. He’s thankful for the ability to be more conscious of his language and how inclusive he is. “I wouldn’t want anyone to feel disrespected or not included around me,” he says. He’s proud of being deaf and honestly wouldn’t change it, which is why he got a tattoo that says “deaf AF.”

Genderqueer

After 18 years of living with gender dysphoria, Man decided to officially begin his transition from female to male in May 2017. This past year, he’s begun taking testosterone and had top surgery.

His transition has been publicly documented online via social media and a column on them., a website by Conde Nast about the LGBTQ community. He calls himself a deaf, genderqueer, queer artist. In fact, it’s thanks to being deaf that he was able to embrace his queer identity earlier. His deafness taught him from a young age that being different was okay. Man also says that navigating queer spaces can be easier as a deaf individual because he’s learned how to be more inclusive and empathetic. He also feels safer and knows what it’s like to be a minority.

Activism in many communities

Man, who is of Jewish and Chinese descent, is currently studying virtual engineering at the New School in NYC, but he’s become known for his activism and art. He’s prolific on Instagram and YouTube, even creating videos to teach people ASL. He was the star in an ad campaign for Gap and joined a campaign for Model Citizens Vote. With over 185,000 followers on Instagram and over 178,000 subscribers on YouTube, Man’s star is sure to rise now that he’s with IMG. He’s excited about it, calling it one of the most inclusive agencies right now.

“He’s prolific on Instagram and YouTube, even creating videos to teach people ASL.”

Lisa A. Goldstein has a Masters in Journalism from UC Berkeley, a digital hearing aid, a cochlear implant, and plenty of deaf-friendly communication equipment. She spends her days juggling life as a freelance journalist, wife, and mother of two in Pittsburgh, PA.